Strategic Business Management

This program introduces you to the basic concepts and tools of strategic business management. We cover the overall framework within which managers make decisions. Next, you explore the notion of strategy and how it relates to competitive advantage.

You discover different strategic tools to evaluate environmental threats and opportunities, including the industry competitive forces analysis. You learn how to identify company strengths and weaknesses and how to develop competencies. Finally, you study the strategic positioning of a company in its industry and the necessary factors responsible for strategy execution.

Note: the program was previously titled Fundamentals of Strategy.

Program Benefits

Develop the skills to perform external and internal analyses for companies and to evaluate the dynamics of competition

Build strategies using appropriate frameworks and tools

Understand the basics of strategy implementation and control

Earn a Certificate of Participation from the Harvard University Division of Continuing Education

Topics Covered

Strategic management

Competitive advantage

External analysis

Internal analysis

Competitive positioning and business strategy

Strategy implementation

Who Should Enroll

Business owners or employers from any industry who are interested in developing the skills needed to analyze and create strategy. There are no prerequisites, but a basic understanding of management and accounting principles is desired.

Class Times

Program Fee

Location

Instructor

Mohsin Habib is an associate professor of management at the University of Massachusetts. He received the 2010 JoAnne Fussa Distinguished Teaching Award from Harvard Extension School, where he teaches courses on strategy, international management, and business ethics. His research explores the relationship between foreign direct investments, factors specific to a country, and the strategy of multinational corporations. Habib holds a PhD in strategic management with an emphasis on international strategy from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Sharon Mertz is an international business professional with more than 30 years of experience in strategic consulting and management. As a former research director at Gartner, Inc., she was published for work directed towards business executives, investors, and product management within a global market. Before joining Gartner, Inc., she was an associate partner at IBM, working with the global research organizations to evaluate emerging business opportunities. She is an accomplished keynote speaker and has addressed audiences at both commercial and academic conferences internationally including the Academy of International Business Conference. She received a doctorate in international business with an emphasis on business strategy from Southern New Hampshire University.